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Water Contamination in Creeks and Bays Photo: Tom Mcguire Photo: Tom Wildcat Creek in Richmond

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Water Contamination in Creeks and Bays Photo: Tom Mcguire Photo: Tom Wildcat Creek in Richmond Water Contamination IN CREEKS AND BAYS Photo: Tom McGuire Photo: Tom Wildcat Creek in Richmond am way more careful when I am out with a group by the water. It is hard. You do not want them to be afraid but if they don’t know the reality, they could get themselves into trouble,” explains Doria Robinson, who “Ileads creek tours and restoration projects in Richmond. Before she tells people about the water contamina- tion, they “need to establish that connection first, a personal commitment to the space before you get into the troubles, because it can bring you down so much to think, ‘Why is my creek, shoreline so torn up and other people’s aren’t so?’” From creeks to bays, West Contra Costa County is home Much of the water has become contaminated by industri- to many bodies of water (see Table 1 for a list of West al and municipal facilities that are often located adjacent County creeks) and is situated within the lower portion to or on West County’s creeks and bays. For example, of seven watersheds. These watersheds are areas of land a sewage treatment plant, Chevron’s industrial holding where all the water under them or draining into them ponds and refinery, and a landfill all border the 300-acre goes into the same place, whether it is to a stream, lake, salt marsh at the mouth of the San Pablo and Wildcat or ocean. Creek watershed. Urban waterways provide recreational opportunities In addition, urban run-off is a major source of contami- for nearby residents. They serve as important sources nation in the Bay.4 Urban run-off is the water running of wildlife in urban areas, a break in miles of concrete, from our yards, streets, and buildings every day that car- and support birds, fish, greenery,1 and oftentimes local ries pesticides, heavy metals, and other chemicals into our subsistence fishers.2 Healthy creeks and bays also help to waterways. Toxins from both urban run-off and industrial filter pollutants and reduce flooding, erosion, and organic discharges can impair the growth of plants and insects material buildup.3 Yet most of West County’s creeks are along creeks, cause declines in marine life, and create paved over; of those that are not, many have become so health risks for people.5 polluted they are no longer safe for residents to swim, ndicators I fish, or even play in. 40 PACIFIC INSTITUTE Table 1: West County CreeKS Total length Creek Beginning (Headwaters) Drains into Passes through (miles) Berkeley, Wildcat Canyon San Pablo Bay at Giant Wildcat Creek 22.22 (East Bay Regional Park San Pablo and Richmond Marsh District Land) San Pablo Orinda, then into San Pablo San Pablo, Richmond, El 108.6 San Pablo Bay Creek Reservoir Sobrante Richmond, San Pablo, Rheem and San Pablo Bay just south of 3.36 and 4.10 Richmond some unincorporated Garrity Creeks Point Pinole county land Pinole Creek 46.64 Briones Regional Park San Pablo Bay Pinole Refugio and 9.17 and 31.64 East Bay Regional Park Land San Pablo Bay Rodeo, Crockett, Hercules Rodeo Creeks Source: Contra Costa Watershed Atlas (2003), Contra Costa Community Development Department. Inclusion of creeks is based on the Watershed Atlas, which uses USGS data. It does not include tributaries such as Castro Creek. What DID OUR Research FIND? The Indicators Project examined two indicators of water contamination in West County: which water bodies are According to Regional Board listings, considered contaminated, and how often industries in all of the creeks and the bays in West the area are contaminating waters. To determine which are contaminated, we used data from the San Francisco County are impaired. Regional Water Quality Monitoring Board (Regional Board), the agency in charge of protecting water quality in the San Francisco Bay and in creeks and lakes. What is the evidence of water contamination in West County? To get a sense of how often industries in the area are The Regional Board is required by federal law to estab- contaminating waters, we checked data for how often, if lish water quality standards based on the ways each water at all, facilities are breaking water quality laws that have body is typically used. For instance, if an area’s designated been set by the state and federal government. This pro- use is recreational fishing, the Board must ensure that the vided information on whether or not industrial facilities fish in that water body are safe for people to eat.7 The are complying with legal limits on water contamination Regional Board then assesses which water bodies do not set under the federal Clean Water Act to regulate point meet their water quality standards and designates them as source pollution discharges.6 “impaired.” Our analysis does not attempt to create a direct link According to Regional Board listings, all of the creeks between water contamination in local water bodies and and the bays in West County are impaired (Table 2). illegal industrial discharges. Table 3 provides more specific information on the con- taminants present in these water bodies. MEASURING WHAT MATTERS: WateR CONtamINatION IN CREEKS AND bays 41 Table 2: Impaired Water BODIES IN West County Water body Chemical contaminants Source of contaminants Chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, dioxin Urban run-off and drainage, direct discharges from industry, compounds, exotic species, furan dumping from boats, atmospheric deposition, municipal San Pablo Bay compounds, mercury, nickel, PCBs discharges, agriculture and natural sources, resource (polychlorinated biphenyls), selenium extraction San Pablo Creek Diazinon Urban run-off and storm sewers Wildcat Creek Diazinon Urban run-off and storm sewers Dieldrin (sediment); mercury (sediment); Castro Cove PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ) Direct discharges from Chevron refinery, urban run-off (sediment); selenium (sediment) Chlordane; mercury; PAHs (polycyclic Urban run-off and drainage, direct discharges from industry, Central Basin (part aromatic hydrocarbons); PCBs dumping from boats, atmospheric deposition, municipal of central SF Bay) (polychlorinated biphenyls); selenium discharges, agriculture and natural sources Pinole Creek Diazinon Urban run-off and storm sewers Rodeo Creek Diazinon Urban run-off and storm sewers Chlordane; DDT; dieldrin; dioxin Urban run-off and drainage, direct discharges from industry, compounds; exotic species; furan dumping from boats, atmospheric deposition, municipal Central SF Bay compounds; PCBs (polychlorinated discharges, agriculture and natural sources, resource biphenyls); mercury; selenium extraction Source: Proposed 2006 CWA Section 303(d) List of Water Quality Limited Segments. Retrieved 10/15/08 from http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb2/tmdlmain.htm. Table 3: What ARE THE contaminants IN West County waters? Contaminant What is it? Chlordane Pesticide that has been banned, but persists in the environment. DDT Pesticide that has been banned, but persists in the environment. Dieldrin Insecticide that has been banned, but persists in the environment. Dioxin/furan Chemical compounds released as emissions from waste incineration and other combustion; also compounds discharged from chemical factories. Exotic Species Animals and plants not native to an ecosystem. Heavy metal used in thermometers, dental fillings, and batteries, discharged from refineries and Mercury factories, but also present in the environment as a result of former use in mining. Nickel Naturally occurring metal. Chemicals used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment. Polychlorinated Due to health impacts, production has been stopped but they persist in the environment and leach biphenyls (PCBs) from landfills and chemical waste. Naturally occurring mineral element in rocks and soil. Used in the electronics industry, as a nutritional Selenium feed additive for poultry and livestock, and in petroleum refineries. Diazinon Pesticide used to control pests in soil, ornamental plants, and crops. Chemical compounds formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas, garbage, or other Polycyclic Aromatic organic substances. PAHs are found in coal tar, crude oil, creosote, and roofing tar, but a few are used Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in medicines or to make dyes, plastics, and pesticides. Source: U.S. EPA Drinking Water Contaminants, available at http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/contaminants/ and Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ToxFAQs, available at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html. 42 PACIFIC INSTITUTE How often are industrial facilities illegally discharging through October of 2008, there were 51 reporting and contaminated water? monitoring violations, and one instance where a facility The Indicators Project also looked at how many times in- was cited for failure to pay fines for a total of 52 adminis- dustrial facilities in West County violated their regulatory trative violations spread among eight facilities.8 permits by releasing more contaminants than legally al- lowed. Every industrial facility must obtain a permit from Other studies and sources of data indicate that indus- the Regional Board, called a National Pollution Dis- trial facilities in West County are contributing to water charge and Elimination Permit (NPDES), which outlines contamination. In a national study on permit violations how much wastewater a facility is allowed to discharge. from industrial facilities, Contra Costa was one of the top 25 counties in the U.S. with the most industrial facilities According to data from the California Integrated Water exceeding their NPDES permits.9 It should also be noted Quality Information System for January 2005 through that these are just illegal discharges; facilities are allowed October 2008, there were a total of 19 facilities in viola- to discharge a certain amount on a regular basis. In 2005, tion of their permits, 17 of them with repeat violations for example, Shell Oil released 542,497 pounds of con- (Table 4). All of the violations listed are for illegal con- taminants into surface waters; Chevron released 430,777 taminant discharges.
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